The Mess

[Speaker to Animals]

I wonder if it was travelling as fast as something coming across the arctic from Russia, though. Those things are going extremely fast anywhere near the target area.

[Hastur]

I wonder if it was travelling as fast as something coming across the arctic from Russia, though. Those things are going extremely fast anywhere near the target area.

From the article:

The target ICBM was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, more than 4,000 miles from the two interceptors launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

That's pretty far away. Not much shorter than from Russia. Must have built up a decent speed.

[Speaker to Animals]

I wonder if it was travelling as fast as something coming across the arctic from Russia, though. Those things are going extremely fast anywhere near the target area.

From the article:

The target ICBM was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, more than 4,000 miles from the two interceptors launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

That's pretty far away. Not much shorter than from Russia. Must have built up a decent speed.

It depends on the altitude of its apogee.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Wow. Developing something like that in any other century would incite an immediate pre-emptive attack.

With MAD in place though? Hard to say..

[Hastur]

I wonder if it was travelling as fast as something coming across the arctic from Russia, though. Those things are going extremely fast anywhere near the target area.

From the article:

The target ICBM was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, more than 4,000 miles from the two interceptors launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

That's pretty far away. Not much shorter than from Russia. Must have built up a decent speed.

It depends on the altitude of its apogee.

I'm not great at Ballistic missile math so bear with me. The altitude of the apogee depends on the range, right? Or can the ballistic trajectory have different forms? I guess it goes ballistic after the thrusters die. A shorter distance might actually mean a higher apogee. Depends on the missile then I guess.

[Speaker to Animals]

From the article:


That's pretty far away. Not much shorter than from Russia. Must have built up a decent speed.

It depends on the altitude of its apogee.

I'm not great at Ballistic missile math so bear with me. The altitude of the apogee depends on the range, right? Or can the ballistic trajectory have different forms? I guess it goes ballistic after the thrusters die. A shorter distance might actually mean a higher apogee. Depends on the missile then I guess.

Depends on thrust and how you actually control it. If you launch the thing at a shallow trajectory, it's just going to burn it's fuel in the atmosphere, and not achieve it's max velocity.

The above chart assumes you just burn all your fuel to achieve that max apogee for each angle.

[Hastur]

It depends on the altitude of its apogee.

I'm not great at Ballistic missile math so bear with me. The altitude of the apogee depends on the range, right? Or can the ballistic trajectory have different forms? I guess it goes ballistic after the thrusters die. A shorter distance might actually mean a higher apogee. Depends on the missile then I guess.

Depends on thrust and how you actually control it. If you launch the thing at a shallow trajectory, it's just going to burn it's fuel in the atmosphere, and not achieve it's max velocity.

The above chart assume you just burn all your fuel to achieve that max apogee.

Yes, I realize that the distance is irrelevant to calculate speed. It could have varied a lot. I guess you might be able to calculate what the minimum speed must have been.

[Fife]

I miss SDI.

Laser beams instead of Nuclear Winter made high school anxiety a little more bearable.

[Speaker to Animals]

Brilliant Pebbles was the winning idea.

[Smitty-48]

SDI is real.

The Missile Defense Agency has only just begun.

This trajectory is the Supercounterforce by default.

It's just a question of leaning into it.

No half measures.

Once you withdraw from ABM and INF, you have to go all the way.

Side benefit; Spartan UBI space program baked into the cake.

American boots upon the Sea of Tranquility was not science, it was war.

Space Soldiering for the win. Per ardua ad astra.